


it's time to begin

by Infinity456



Series: beginning [1]
Category: MCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming
Genre: Biological Dad Tony Stark, Gen, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark - Freeform, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter is Tony's son, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 21:19:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14601933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infinity456/pseuds/Infinity456
Summary: Six months ago, Peter’s life was changed forever.Six months ago, Peter learned that Richard and Mary Parker were not, in fact, his biological parents.Six months ago, Peter Parker learned that he was adopted.His biological parents?A woman he would never know, and Tony Stark.





	it's time to begin

**Author's Note:**

> Everything that happened in Civil War and Homecoming happened, I am ignoring Infinity War for this so no spoilers here! In this Peter has just turned 16.
> 
> It is now beta'd! Thanks All_Terrain_Nerd!!
> 
> In case it wasn't obvious, title is taken from the Imagine Dragons song It's Time.

Six months ago, Peter’s life was changed forever.

Six months ago, Peter learned that Richard and Mary Parker were not, in fact, his biological parents.

Six months ago, Peter Parker learned that he was adopted.

His biological parents?

A woman he would never know, and Tony Stark.

*

Peter hadn't known he was adopted, but Tony had.

Tony knew because more than 16 years ago he'd had a one night stand with Peter's biological mother – a grad student at MIT, apparently – and, when she contacted him a month later with news of her pregnancy, they made the _mature_ decision that he would be put up for adoption.

While Tony went on to become _Tony Stark,_ his mother went into biochemical engineering, only to die in a car accident two months before she turned thirty-two.

Apparently Mr. Stark had always kept track of him.

*

It all started while Peter looked through a box of old family photos, when something he’d never noticed before had caught his eye. While looking through photos of his parents’ wedding, he came across a close-up of them smiling at each other with so much happiness it looked as though their eyes were sparkling.

 _Blue eyes_.

Two pairs of blue eyes.

Anyone else might not have given this a second thought, but Peter knew better, Peter knew biologically it was impossible for two people with blue eyes to have a child with brown eyes.

At first it felt like a punch to the gut. He had so many questions. Had his mother been unfaithful? Did his father know? His father was a scientist though, surely he would have put it together upon seeing Peter’s eyes. So then…

Was he adopted?

*

He hadn’t expected Aunt May to cave within seconds of confronting her.

_“I’m so sorry Peter, it’s not something Ben and I meant to keep from you; we just didn’t know how to approach it. Richard and Mary had always planned to tell you early but then they—and then Ben—Peter I just didn’t-“_

Any anger he’d felt immediately left him upon hearing May’s voice crack and seeing the barely held back tears. Peter had barely been holding back his own.

It took some time, but a drawn out hug and several reassurances later, Aunt May told him everything she knew over takeout from their favourite Indian place.

Admittedly, she didn’t know much.

The facts were these:

His parents wanted a baby desperately, but an accident in college had left his father infertile, so they chose to adopt.

They _chose_ him, and it was important to Aunt May that he knew he was _loved._

May didn’t know the names of his biological parents. All she had known was that his mother was in college when she had him and she had no information on his biological father.

*

Peter didn’t tell May that he planned to search for them, but he's certain she knew, though she never said anything.

Unfortunately, finding information on biological parents is easier said than done. It was a full two weeks before Peter decided to speak to Mr. Stark in the hopes that he would use his tech to hack the records.

He was  _so_ wrong.

*

_“I sympathize with you kid, I really do. You’ve just found out something major and you’re on a journey to find yourself, or whatever it is you kids do, but take it from me: some stones are better left unturned. You had parents who wanted you enough to go through the shit show that is the American adoption process to get you. Trust me, you won’t find better parents than them.”_

_“But Mr. Stark, it’s not-"_

_“Kid, even if I wanted to I couldn’t. It’s illegal, what kind of role model would I be if I-“_

_“Mr. Stark that’s never stopped you before; you like hacked the pentagon once!”_

_“Enough!”_

_Peter startled as Mr. Stark slammed the wrench he was holding to the table. The lab was quiet for what felt like an eternity before Mr. Stark finally broke the silence._

_“Look, I’m sorry, I know this important to you, but I can’t, so drop it.”_

*

Peter didn’t drop it.

It was another month before Peter got anywhere, this time with the help of Karen and Ned.

He’d needed Ned’s help to override any of his suit’s protocols that would report his activities to Mr. Stark. Peter didn’t want him to find out what he was doing and stop him out of some misguided attempt to keep Peter out of trouble.

Once Ned was finished Peter was able to, with Karen’s help, obtain a copy of his sealed adoption records.

Fortunately, this gave him his mother’s name.

Unfortunately, the section that should have held his father’s name was blank.

Not one to be discouraged, Peter had persevered, and looked up everything he could on his mother, Elena Bell.

He’d felt his breath catch when he learned his mother had been a scientist. He’d always felt his aptitude for the sciences came from his parents Richard and Mary, both well known and respected in their fields of study, so it had been a blow to learn it didn’t come from them, like a connection lost. But here was proof, irrefutable proof that there was someone out there, someone who he may have never met before but was connected to; someone whose traits had been passed down to _him_.

Someone who might _understand_ him.

His stomach plummeted when he found her obituary.

*

It was eight days before he was able to look at her picture again.

He finally printed off her picture one night after patrol and spent the entire night studying it just so he could catalog the differences and similarities between them. He had her nose and their hair was the same colour, same texture even, wavy in the same way his would get when he went too long without a cut.  

Her eyes were brown, but they weren’t the same. Hers were light, almost hazel, nothing like his.

*

_“Hey, Mr. Stark.”_

_“Hey kid. Ready to test the upgrades to your suit?”_

_“Yeah, yeah, I am…” Peter said, hesitating before continuing. “Uhm Mr. Stark, I was thinking about something you said a while ago, about how it was never too early to start thinking about college…”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“You mentioned MIT before, and, like, that’s always been my dream school, you know, but I’ve never even been there, and I was looking up tours of the campus, and, sir, I would never ask, but do you think there’s a way for me to get into one of the tours? I can pay for my bus ticket there but-“_

_“Say no more kid. I’ll fly you out there next weekend.”_

_“No Mr. Stark, you don’t need—“_

_“Ah ah, what kind of mentor would I be if I let New York’s friendly neighbourhood Spider-man take a_ bus _to MIT.” Mr. Stark said the word 'bus' as though Peter had suggested he go via horse and buggy. Chuckling, Mr. Stark clapped Peter on the shoulder. “You know, I really am proud of you, kid. Not too long ago you were telling me you didn’t need school, now you’re chomping at the bit to get started. Keep it up.”_

_*_

It hadn’t taken long for Peter to slip away from the tour group.

Once changed into his suit, he’d had Karen connect to the campus faculty Wi-Fi so that she could search for any information related to his mother.

Thankfully, everything from his mother’s time at the school had been backed up electronically. Peter had never been so happy that he lived in the digital age.

Once Karen had downloaded all of the information regarding his mother, he quickly switched back into his civilian clothes, stuffed his suit in his bag, and rejoined the tour group that thankfully either hadn’t noticed his absence or had perhaps assumed he’d taken a  _—_ very long  _—_ bathroom break.

*

It wasn’t until Peter was back home in New York and had the information transferred to his laptop that he was able to review it.

A lot of it was papers she had written and research she was working which he devoured.

She was _brilliant,_ and he didn’t know whether to feel happy to learn this, or sad that he would never know her beyond reading about her past.

A little bit of both, it seemed.

It was a copy of the student paper that had caught his eye. He wasn’t sure why Karen would have downloaded a copy of _The Tech_ unless his mother was mentioned in it somewhere. Upon doing a search for her name he found it.

 

 ** _Pictured Left to Right: Elena Bell, Tony Stark_**  

 

Just as described, right above was a picture of his mother next to Tony Stark, each with a drink in hand.

They were dressed in business attire: Tony in a suit, his mother in a blazer over a patterned dress that came just above her knees. They looked to be deep in conversation.

Reading the article below revealed that MIT had held a conference where Tony had been invited to speak, and his mother had even presented some of the research she was doing as a grad student.

It was looking at the date of the event that had Peter’s breath catching.

April 21, 2001.

Peter was born January 15, 2002.

Approximately nine months following the event.

*

_“Karen?”_

_“Yes, Peter?”_

_“What blood type was my mother?”_

_“According to her medical files she was O-.”_

_“And what about me?”_

_“I’ve analyzed your blood type to be A+.”_

_“So my biological father would have to have to have either AB+ or A+ blood type.”_

_“It would seem so.”_

_“Karen?”_

_“Yes, Peter?”_

_“What is Mr. Stark’s blood type?”_

_Peter held his breath._

_“I’m afraid I do not have access to that information.”_

_“Oh, thanks anyway, Karen.”_

_“You’re very welcome, Peter.”_

_*_

 

_Peter had been staring at the test kit when Mr. Stark finally walks into the lab._

_“What’cha got there?” Tony asked, gesturing at it._

_“Oh, just my biology homework…” Peter trailed off, hoping his discomfort showed._

_“Ahh, blood type test. They still do these in school? Why haven’t you done it yet?” Mr. Stark asked as he picked up the test, examining it._

_“I, um…I can’t…” Peter trailed off, waving at the lancet sitting on the table._

_Mr. Stark raised his eyebrows, face filled with disbelief._

_“You’re telling me the boy who regularly puts himself in danger fighting crime dressed as a spider, is afraid of a little pinprick.”_

_The look on Mr. Stark’s face told him exactly how ridiculous he found this information. Hopefully not so ridiculous that he wouldn’t buy it._

_“I just…it’s different, okay? I’ve always had a thing about needles even before the bite, and I just can’t bring myself to, you know, do it.”_

_“Okay, give me your hand, we’re gon—"_

_“No, Mr. Stark!” Peter shouts, ripping his hand away before Mr. Stark could prick him. He was breathing fast, his panic real. If Mr. Stark managed to stick him then his whole plan would be shot. He looked up at Tony, feeling a little desperate._

_“Huh, this is really a thing for you, isn’t it?” Mr. Stark said, surprise evident in his voice._

_Peter swallowed before answering._

_“Yes, it is. I just don’t like needles.” Peter wrapped his arms around himself, hoping he looked pathetic enough to warrant Mr. Stark’s pity._

_“Alright, here.” Something in Mr. Stark’s tone had softened, and without another word, Mr. Stark stuck himself in the finger and very quickly and efficiently completed the blood test before handing it back to Peter. “They don’t need to know it’s not yours," he added reassuringly with a hand on Peter’s shoulder._

_It worked._

_*_

_A+_

At the time, Peter wasn’t sure what he had wanted the test to say. He wasn’t sure if he felt relieved or upset by the result. He remembered the way Mr. Stark had acted when Peter first asked for his help searching for his biological parents. At first, Peter thought Tony was trying to keep Peter from doing something illegal. He should’ve known better, given Tony’s history.

But then did that mean Mr. Stark knew?

And for how long?

The entire time he’d known Peter?

_The entire time Peter had been alive?_

*

He’d needed more proof; having the same blood type could have just been a coincidence. He needed a DNA test.

Fortunately, he already had Tony’s blood.

Unfortunately, he did not have a lab.

But Tony did.

However, being able to do a DNA test using Tony’s equipment without him noticing wasn’t something Peter imagined he’d be able to pull off.

*

It turned out to be much easier then he’d imagined.

By some stroke of luck, Mr. Stark had needed to take an unexpected trip to the capital to attend a meeting regarding the _—_ failing _—_ Sokovia Accords.

All it took was a well-timed phone call as Tony was boarding the plane to inform him he’d broken one of his web-shooters  _—_   _please Mr. Stark, please can I use the lab, I won’t touch anything except what I need, promise_ – for Mr. Stark to cave and allow Peter access to the lab with Happy supervising.

Peter wasn’t sure if he was just that good at lying or if Mr. Stark had always been a little soft with him.

He was beginning to suspect the latter.

*

It hadn’t been terribly difficult to fool Happy. For one, Happy wasn’t very familiar with Peter’s web-shooters or what was involved in completing a DNA analysis, but more importantly, he just didn’t care enough to pay any attention to what Peter was doing, opting to instead read some magazine about classic cars.

Most places would’ve taken days to complete a DNA test, but this was Stark tech, which was why within an hour of setting to work Peter had been holding definitive proof that Tony Stark was his father.

Peter had never felt so betrayed in his life.

*

Peter couldn’t stop the thoughts that had swirled around in his head the two weeks that he had stopped showing up to the lab and ignored Mr. Stark’s messages.

_Tony knew._

_He_ had _to._

_That was the only reason he would’ve reacted the way he did when Peter first asked him for help._

_If he knew, why didn’t he say anything?_

_How long had he known?_

_Did he find out after recruiting Peter?_

_Or before?_

_If he’d known before then why wait until the fight with Cap to reach out to him?_

_Had he been ashamed of Peter?_

_Did becoming Spider-Man somehow make him worthy of Tony’s attention?_

_Was that the only reason Tony contacted him? Because his powers made him useful?_

The thoughts made him sick.

*

 _“_ The prodigal son returns! Gotta wonder, Pete, what high-school drama had you so busy you couldn’t return a phone call?” Tony wondered, looking disappointed in him.

Peter ignored how apt Tony’s use of the phrase ‘prodigal son’ was in this case. Then again, Tony probably knew that.

He found Tony’s disappointment ironic, considering the amount of disappointment Peter had felt the past two weeks. Peter took a breath, preparing himself. He had a speech, a good one, a long one, probably too long, but it would get the point across. Peter had a lot he needed to say and Mr. Stark was going to hear him.

If only he could get his mouth to work.

“I’m waiting kid,” Mr. Stark prompted with one eyebrow raised and a wave of his hand as if Peter were an inconvenience, and Peter broke.

“You’re my dad.” Peter choked out.

No. Nope. Nonono that’s not the speech, why wasn’t he saying the speech? It was a good speech! And did his voice break? He’s supposed to be past that, and were those tears? A quick touch to his face confirmed that yes, yes, they were. His voice was breaking, he’d abandoned his speech, and now he was crying. Wonderful.

Tony was frozen. The look on his face would’ve been comical had it been any other situation, but they weren’t in any other situation. They were in this one, and Peter wished the floor would just swallow him whole.

Before Tony could say anything, Peter fished the folded up DNA test out of his pocket and tossed it onto the table between them. Before he could stop himself, he was talking between gasps for breath, carefully planned speech forgotten as he just tried to get everything out before he completely lost it. He told Tony everything, hacking his adoption records, the trip to MIT, the article, and then finally, the blood tests.

“I know you know,” he said finally, taking a second to take in a wet breath before continuing, “I know you knew about me. I don’t know for how long but I know you at least knew before. Why didn’t you say anything? Was it me? Is th-there something wrong with me?”

“Kid,” Mr. Stark started, and then paused. Peter took a moment to look him over, he looked wrecked. That alone was confirmation enough that he’d known, and Peter was unable to stop the sob that escaped at that. He’d thought  _—_ hoped  _—_ that maybe he was wrong and Mr. Stark hadn’t known and would just be learning it now, that maybe learning he had a son would be welcome news. “Peter, just, sit for a minute, okay, sit here.”

Peter felt Mr. Stark steer him towards a chair and a moment later he was sitting with Mr. Stark to his right. He glanced up to see Mr. Stark with his head bent forward, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose as he presumably gathered his thoughts, Peter looked away.

“Okay first,” Tony started, “there is nothing wrong with you.”

Peter snorted, there was plenty wrong with him.

“No, Peter, I’m being serious here. there is _nothing_ wrong with you. Out of everything going on in my life, you’re one of the only things that’s going right. Do you understand?” Peter didn’t respond; he didn’t think Mr. Stark expected him to. “Second, you’re right: I did know about you. I’ve known about you since your mother found out she was pregnant.”

Peter’s head shot up at that, about to say something, but then Tony continued.

“She wasn’t ready for children. She was focused on getting her career off ground and she wasn’t ready to accept the role of motherhood on top of that. I wasn’t ready to be a father either. Hell, I wasn’t _fit_ to be a father back then. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of my ‘wild days’. Well, that was smack dab in the middle of those, and there was no way I could have brought a child into that. You deserved better, and trust me, you got better,” Mr. Stark says solemnly, reaching over to rest his hand on top of Peter’s.

“But you cou _—_ “

“No,” Mr. Stark interrupts. “Whatever you’re thinking I could have or should have done back then, I couldn’t. It just wasn’t realistic or even possible. After Afghanistan, there were times when I wanted to more than anything, Peter, but to uproot your entire life would have been selfish. _Especially_ once Iron Man happened. I had enemies Peter, if anyone found out about you it could have put you in danger and that was unacceptable to me!” Peter is startled by the vehemence with which Mr. Stark says this, like the very thought terrifies him. Peter didn’t think anything scared Tony. Mr. Stark sighs, resting his forehead in his hand, eyes closed. “Please, try to understand the position I was in.”

He gets it, he really does. He hates it, but he understands where Tony is coming from but it still hurts. His dad was _Tony Stark_ , he’d been out there all this time, often in the same city, and Peter had never even known. It stings.

“Did you ever wonder about me?” Peter’s voice is barely above a whisper. He’s a little afraid of the answer, and he can’t seem to bring himself to look Tony in the eye.

“All the time, kid.” Tony says, and Peter has to look up at the sound of his voice. “I have entire servers dedicated to your school pictures alone,” Tony says with a laugh that sounds a little wet to Peter’s ears.

With a wave of his hand and a command to FRIDAY, a hologram appears containing information all on _him_. Mr. Stark wasn’t lying. He has a picture of Peter from each year he was in school, but there’s so much more than just that. There’s a picture from the one year uncle Ben convinced him to try little league  _—_ he’d been terrible and never wanted to do it again  _—_ as well as pictures from his eighth grade science fair. There’s report cards  _—_ _almost all As —_  Mr. Stark tells him, sounding proud. It feels like a catalog of Peter’s entire existence, and he’s feeling a little overwhelmed as Mr. Stark continues flipping through the photos.

He has one last question, and trying to gather the courage to ask it is burning him up inside but he _needs_ to ask it, needs to know the answer. He waits until Mr. Stark finishes going through the photos to speak.

“Why _—_ ” Peter says, voice breaking a little as his breath quickens. Thankfully, Mr. Stark stays quiet, waiting for him to continue. “If it was so dangerous, why did you come to meet me that day?” There’s more he wants to say. He wants to know whether Mr. Stark only cared about him because of Spider-Man, but he can’t bring himself to, not when he feels like the answer might actually kill him.

Mr. Stark doesn’t answer for a long time, but then, “you became Spider-Man.”

There it is.

Peter feels himself tense up as his fears are confirmed. Sure, he was important enough to keep track of, but he only became important enough to know when he got these _stupid_ powers. He stands and he wants to throw something, to scream, to shout, so Mr. Stark knows that he was important and worth knowing before the powers too.

Tony doesn’t seem to notice his current crisis as he continues talking, and Peter tunes back in, barely controlling his anger.

“You became Spider-Man, and I was terrified,” Mr. Stark says and Peter has to do a double take because wait, what? “It didn’t take me long to figure out who the new guy in town was, and when I found out it was you I thought I was gonna have a heart attack, kid. You were out there swinging from buildings, stopping muggers, muggers who had _guns_! And throwing yourself into all sorts of dangerous situations in nothing but your pajamas and there was not a thing I could do.” Mr. Stark’s voice had gotten steadily louder, and Peter could only stare in disbelief as Tony continued. “Until I could do something. I could make you a suit. That suit was made long before I’d actually reached out to you. I still hadn’t figured out how to give it to you when the Accords happened, and that just seemed like the perfect opportunity. I could give you a better, safer, suit and see your skills first hand against a group of people I could trust wouldn’t be going in for the kill.” When Tony finishes, his eyes are wet and there’s a pleading look in them.

“You were worried about me?” Peter asks, feeling something warm in his chest.

“Of course I was worried about you! You’re my kid!” Tony shouts.

Peter feels his breath catch, because Tony just called him _his_ kid.

Tony seems to have realized it too, if the looks of surprise on his face is any indication, but he doesn’t take it back.

_He doesn’t take it back._

They’re both staring at each other, seemingly at a standstill, neither of them sure what to do. Peter’s mind involuntarily flashes back to the not a hug-hug that took place in Tony’s car all that time ago. He wants another one, a real one this time, but he doesn’t know if it’s okay or not.

He doesn’t get a chance to ask because before he knows it Tony  _—_ and when did he start thinking of him as Tony?  _—_ is drawing him in and squeezing him close. There’s a hand on the back of his head and his face is buried in Tony’s chest and it just feels _right_.

He knows they still have a lot to discuss, and it’s probably not going to be easy, but right now, in this moment, none of that matters because Peter is hugging his dad.

_*_

Six months later and they are still learning to navigate their new relationship, but Peter couldn’t be happier for it. Sure, things are still awkward sometimes, like that time Peter slipped and called Tony “dad” while they were working in the lab. Neither of them had been ready for that  _—_ though by the look on Tony’s face he didn’t exactly seem opposed to it either  _—_ and they had both been silent for a moment before Peter laughed awkwardly and apologized before they’d gotten back to work. He wasn’t sure if he would ever be comfortable referring to Tony by that title. He was still getting used to calling him by his first name, but maybe one day, Peter thinks.

For now, Peter is just happy to spend time with Tony and learn as much as he can. He’s glad aunt May took everything as well as she did. Though at first she’d been upset and angry with Tony, she came around after hearing his reasons for keeping this secret were about Peter’s safety. All in all, he thinks she adjusted to this a lot more easily then to him being Spider-Man…that had been disastrous.

But now, Peter can be honest with her about everything, about Spider-Man, about the real reasons he went to the compound so often  _—_ even more often now that Tony invited him over on the weekends that he wasn’t out of the city on business.

Which is where he was now, it was movie night and Tony was in the kitchen getting them popcorn while Peter waited on the couch. Peter was flipping through some pictures MJ had taken when she’d commandeered his phone earlier that day during their decathalon practice. He laughed when he came across a particularly funny one of her making a face at Flash behind his back.

“Ooh, she’s cute, new girlfriend?”

Peter jumped as Tony’s voice came from right behind him, and then flushed as he registered what Tony had said.

“What? N-no, no she’s not my, she’s not my girlfriend, just…just a friend. She’s _just_ a friend.” Peter stuttered, cringing at Tony’s raised eyebrow.

 _Smooth, Parker, real smooth_.

Tony chuckled, patting Peter’s shoulder as he came around the couch to sit next to him. Peter groaned, burying his face in his hand as Tony began talking.

“Do I need to give you the talk? You know all about the birds and the bees, right? Tab A goes into slot B, that sort of thing, you know? Do you want me to get a banana so we can go over how to _—_ ” Tony laughed as Peter shoved him hard enough to spill the popcorn, apparently amused by his embarrassment. “Calm down, I’m only kidding. Though all joking aside, if you have any questions Peter, I’m here, I know a thing or two about the ladies,” he finishes with a wink.

Peter’s face is burning as he looks down at his lap, because yeah, sure, MJ is pretty, but the thing is he’s never been particularly interested in _ladies,_ he thinks, mind flashing to the Captain America poster he used to have above his bed.

No, he’s never thought much about ladies in that way at all.

**Author's Note:**

> So this was initially supposed to be a brief backstory on how Peter discovered Tony was his father, so that I could then write about Peter coming to terms with his sexuality and eventually coming out to Tony, but then this turned out a lot longer then planned so posting it as a separate instalment. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed it, please leave feedback below, I would love to hear your thoughts :) 
> 
> My tumblr is:  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/spidey-stuff


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